The past few weeks we have been going from room to room de-cluttering and cleaning. Yesterday we started on Tasha and Callie's room (that one might take a week!)
As we were organizing piles of papers I found a few notes and essay that lightened my mood.

I have a heart

A heart full of good things in my life

Like Beautiful things.

(She drew a heart and wrote ...)Family, Brothers, Sister, Friends, Grandparents, Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Aunts and Uncles.

Songs

My favorite songs are...

1) Beans the magical fruit.

2) High School Musical Songs

3) Greece songs

My most Favorite song...

Jesus take the Wheel.

Essay...March 23, 2008

Woman of Distinction

The Woman of distinction I am writing about is my mom. Her name is Cindy Hayward. There are a few things about my mom I admire. For one she takes care of me and my family. My mom is wonderful, she is always making sure I wake up everyday to go to school. My mom also makes lunch for me when I am ready for school so that I don't have to do it when I wake up. She is always taking me where I need to go. My mom is also making sure I do my homework, and if I need help she is always doing her best to help me to understand. But my mom also has a great sense of humor. My mom is always making me laugh. My mom may not tell good jokes. But I lover her anyways. My mom is always making sure we are happy and laughing. The things my mom does is what makes her special and likable. I think the whole reason my mom developed the joking trait was because she has six kids. My mom takes care of everyone there are eight people in my family including me. Out of the eight people in my family I think my mom works the hardest. She does everything she can for her kids. My mom takes care of all of us and she cooks great food. My mom is such a good cook, that every time I eat her food it reminds me of the food you get when you go out to eat. But my doesn't just make good food she makes sure that the food we eat is healthy and good at the same time. There is always fruits and vegetables on the table and in the house. But there is occasionally a sweet treat to eat as a snack. My mom's best meal is stroganoff. She puts it on noodles or rice,and on either one it tastes wonderful. She makes the sauce and cooks it basically by herself. All of her food is the best I had ever tasted. I especially look forward to when she makes cakes for our birthday. There are most likely better cooks out there then her, but I love her cooking.She may be a wonderful cook but she also stays home all day. Staying home all day means a lot of cleaning and working. My mom works twenty four hours a day seven days a week. She is what I would call Cinderella. You know cooking and cleaning for everyone with no break. The kind that makes you feel bad for that person.She works all day and almost never gets a break. But somehow my mom finds a way to go shopping, work out, and care for her children in her day. My mom is the most amazing person I have ever met or known in my lifetime. In conclusion, I love my mom and I admire her very, very much. She does everything and more a person can do. I hope that when I grow up I will live to be just like her. She is my role model, and I hope that I'll be able to be my kid's role model and have them love me the same way I love and admire my mom. I love that I got the opportunity to enter this contest, because I can show everyone the wonderful things about my mom. Now you can see why I chose my mom as my Woman of Distinction. I wish you will be able to see that my mom is wonderful, and feel the same way I do about my mom.I hope you will be able to see the things that make my mom special by reading this essay. I love my mom and I hope she will get noticed by her wonderfulness.

Written by: Tasha Hayward

What a wonderful Daughter I have been given to raise!

The Phone

Monday morning I decided to ask my kids what foods their Grandparents like to eat and they couldn't tell me. So, I decided for Family Home Evening we would talk about our Grandparents. I had the kids ask Sam questions about his parents and then we called their living Grandparents. We put them on speaker phone and all took turns asking questions ranging from what's your favorite color to what is your favorite family story. We had a fabulous time and learned a lot about who we are and where we came from. It was a nice bonding moment even though we are miles and miles apart.

******

A few weeks ago I started my Morning by taking Tasha to Seminary. I came back home made sure the other kids were awake and getting ready for School. Took Sam to the Train Station and then proceeded back to the Church to pick up Tasha and then off to School we went. As I turned onto our street I noticed two cop cars on our Street (one parked right in front of my home) As I drove up they just nodded at me like nothing happened. As I walked in my home I was flooded by explanations on why the Cop cars were parked out front. "Cody, Called 9111"!(Yes, that's right. He thought if he dialed one more 1 it wouldn't call 911.) "We were playing a card game and Andrew was cheating."Yelled one of the kids. The real reasoning for calling 911 was Andrew was eating Rice Crispy Treats without asking and Cody decided to parent letting him know that he was stealing and if he continued he would call 911 and then the cops would come and take him to jail. The cops did come to the door and asked if everything was o.k. they just replied my Brother accidentally called. They told them not to play with the phone and asked a few more questions and then let them shut the door. I was surprised that they never came and talked to me. However, I went out and talked to them. They were very sweet and understanding.

So when all the DRAMA had settled I asked them what the Cops said to Andrew Stealing. They replied "We were to scared to tell them." I sat them down and explained that Andrew wouldn't have gone to Jail and that playing with 911 could be taking help from those who really need it. I now take the kids with me in the morning :) Sam gets them up at 6a.m.!

Leftovers

Saturday we had Bake Potatoes for Dinner and of Coarse we had 4 left over.

Bake Potatoes aren't always the easiest to re-invent how ever we did it!

Home Fries!!! with home made Fry Sauce of coarse!
YUMM!

And since the oil was hot and we had a can of biscuits...

Doughnuts were the perfect Dessert for Dinner.


Powder Sugar! The perfect topping!

What are some ways you re-invent leftovers?

First Day of School

Last Wednesday was filled with firsts...
Andrew had his First day of Kindergarten!

(All day Kindergarten)

When I picked the kids up from School he immediately opened his lunch box and chugged down his Juice box and then proceeded to eat his sandwich. I asked him what he ate for Lunch he replied,"My Cheetos!"

The next day he made progress and ate his chips and yo go's.

Today he finally ate most his sandwich and a few other lunch items that were packed in his lunch. I think he is finally getting in the swing of things!

Callie had two weeks of outfits picked out and dated for their appearance.

She is loving 2nd Grade and feeling so grown up!

What a Rock Star!

Cody Started the 4th Grade!

Ugh!

What happened to my Little Toad?


What a cute little bunch of Kids!

Brandon Started Middle School this Year!
6th Grade



I had reservations on sending him to Stewart but when we tried to switch Schools the other Schools we wanted were filled to the rim.
So we gave Brandon the choice of going to Stewart or Home Schooling until we could get him into another School. He didn't want anything to do with his Mother and chose Stewart instead.

Tasha, Started High School!!!!

Watch out Boys!
She is taking sign language this year as well as Choir.
We are Proud Parents of a High School Student!



Kyle also Started School last Wednesday in CO.
He has already made a few friends from his new Ward and a few of them are in some of his classes at School! I am so excited for him!
And yet my heart Strings ache to hold him and Love him!

These pictures were taken on Tuesday last week.
This is Kyle's New Home for the School Year.
Thank You! Kevin and Becky!

It's really nice on the inside as well!

Kyle is so very Lucky to be living in such a nice home!
I know this is a week late.
But sometimes Life gets in the way.
Proud Parents of Great Kids!!

Powerade

I had a few of you wondering how and why I bought 300 powerades. First with the how... I was reading a pinching your pennies forum on how others were purchasing high quantities of powerade and a bigger discount was implied. The Powerade was on sale for $0.50 for every 15 you buy however, when you bought 300 it ended up under $0.20 each. My husband drinks this stuff like crazy! I decided to go down to my local Albertson's and try this for myself. I asked them to ring in 300 powerades to see what my total would be and sure enough my total ended up being $58 Yahoo! They then took down my order and told me it would be in that next Tuesday. And now I have powerade that hopefully will last us until next year.

All you can do is Smile!

Tuesday, we were all busy going through out the day and getting things accomplished when we spotted a baby bear walking through our home. Cody was thrilled when he was able to catch this wild animal. But saddened when we told him he had to release him back into his mothers care.

After Andrew was done with the Bear costume he decided to drive around the house in his car.

Callie, then decided to try on the costume herself.

What cuties!!

Crazy for a great Deal!

Yes! Sometimes I go Crazy! for a great deal!

But Seriously, I have a problem! I went to Albertson's this morning and did two Transactions spent $9.99 on 22 Items ($72.98 before sales & coupons) ( I also received a $1 cat. and a $2 survey) and I'm having a coupon breakdown. My OOP just seems way to high to me!LOL!

I finally had to divided the items into the total = $0.45 each item.

I am now breathing at a more normal rate and my palms are no longer sweaty. I just wish I could have gotten these groceries cheaper that's all!

Look Who's 5!!

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY!!

ANDREW!!

Free Slurpee's

7-Eleven is giving away Free (small) Slurpee's on Saturday the 11Th

While supplies last!

Last Year I took all the Kids and our friends to get our free Slurpee's! They had a blast!

We actually had to go to 2 Stores because the first store was out of cups. This year it is on Saturday so the sooner you get in their the better your chances of scoring a free Slurpee!

Ocean Shores

Our trip to Ocean Shores!

We have a Friend who has been trying to get us to use their vacation home for around 10 years and last week we finally made it a reality. We went up Thursday and stayed till Sat. Evening, we had a blast. Who knew that they would be having a sandcastle building contest while we were there. (Next year I want to enter. No, I have never built anything before but it looks like fun. And that's what it's all about right? Who cares if you can tell what it is?LOL!

The above picture is Titled

"A Fools Castle"

I couldn't believe the people that had no clue why this was called a "Fool's Castle" just in case your wondering yourself.... The foolish man built his house upon the sand. As we were standing there and everyone was packing up, judging had been done the Tide started coming in. We stayed to see if there was any truth to the song. Unfortunately High Tide was only a couple inches too short to really wash this castle away. However it did wash away the trees and bridge soo what ever you do.. do not build your house upon the Sand!

We had a blast! Thank You Susan! And a big Thank You to Norm for letting us use his daughters plot to set up our tent!

Supportive Family

Yesterday I went to the Dentist where they did three fillings. As I proceeded out the door I decided to use the bathroom before leaving. That was a mistake! The right side of my face was drooping down and I looked like Droopy the dog (no exaggeration). I had decided to just come home instead of running errands like planned. Once I arrived home it was like all eyes on me! The kids didn't know what to think and my Husband tried to make small talk like... How did it go...You don't look like you feel well. Sam also commented how I looked like I had a stroke. (That makes me feel good! but it was true).
I thought for sure that the pain and swelling would be gone by today but NO! The swelling wasn't too bad but some of the comments Today while shopping with the Family were... You look like your hiding a pair of shoes in your mouth... you look like a chipmunk... your face is all bruised like someone hit you. Your cheek is all puffy. That is just a few of the comments I had to put up with Today!
So hopefully by Sunday I will be back to normal I don't think I could handle the Primary gaining up on me too! LOL!

Cindy Hayward

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 16 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Cindy Woodin (Maiden Name)

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Coupon Class

I taught a coupon class yesterday for Enrichment. I get so nervous in front of people I hope I did o.k.. I actually had a lot of fun and want to do another one.

One of the questions I asked the Sisters... Why do we use coupons? ... To save money, lower our grocery bills, and several more reasons. Everyone has a different reason to use coupons. I use coupons to free up money for bills, weekly dates, and fun surprises for the Family.
One of the biggest mistakes people make when they get a coupon is to go and use that coupon. Wait for a sale and then match your coupon to the Sale. This maximizes your savings!

Do you use coupons?

Toys R Us Free Geo Trax DVD

Free Geo Trax DVD here. These are great for Christmas, Birthdays or just a sweet surprise.
Click the country in the top right corner and then proceed with checkout. (this is totally free)

Look Who's 13

HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY! KYLE!

13 Things that we love about Kyle!

1. Kyle is very sensitive (caring)

2. Kyle is a great Artist and is very creative.

3. He loves playing outside.

4. Kyle always knows what he wants and goes for it. (too bad he doesn't want to do his homework)

5. He loves Camping with his family.

6. Kyle loves trying new things.
7. He has a smile that melts my heart!

8. Kyle loves doing things with his Dad.
9. He is a great Missionary, and brings his friends to Church with him.

10. Kyle knows the importance of clean language. He comes home all the time voicing his frustrations at the language his peers use.

11. Kyle loves his alone time!

12. He loves money and loves spending it.

13. Kyle is a great help with his younger siblings
14. Kyle loves his computer/WII time.

15. Kyle is a blessing and Joy!

I am truly blessed to have been given such a wonderful Child. He has taught me patients and unconditional Love.

(Kyle with our little friend Max)
We love you KYLE!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Oops! I had to many good things to say about him I put 15 instead of 13.